22 July 2017

tank stand build

I am making a stand for my window tank. Tired of it being on a tv table, and have decided I do want to keep this tank going, it's not temporary anymore so it needs a decent support. First I drew up a design and asked for feedback on the forum- they said it will be plenty strong enough (overkill for a 20g really) so that's good.
We bought some wood. 2x2's for the corner support posts, pine and plywood in various thickness for the top, base and sides, mdf for the middle upright (which isn't weight-bearing) and one piece of orientated strand board for the back (very strong, cheaper and it won't be visible).
My husband has been helping a lot- especially with the power tools.
He's also better at making precise measurements than I am.
Top, base and supports screwed together:
Back panel screwed on:
Sides and middle upright added- with wood glue and clamps. (The shelf is sitting in there on the bottom left)-
Finger holes drilled for the doors- here just sitting in place to visualize
Shelf will go like this on the left-
The holes for screws were pre-drilled so screw heads would sit under the top/base surface. I cut small pieces of 3/4" doweling and pushed them tight into the holes, then sanded the tops off smooth and level.  (Also realized a real downside to pine- it is soft and already got some dings. Dang it)
Now I'm working on applying layers of wood stain- here to the shelf and doors-
and to the rest of it. When the stain is all done I will do two layers of polyurethane to seal against moisture, then screw on the shelf supports and door hinges.
So there are some uneven parts- there wasn't supposed to be a lip showing on the edge of the base on the sides, for example, and you can see above that the doors aren't perfectly square. But I am pleased with the results so far- it is very sturdy and pretty level considering it's the first time I've built something like this.

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